Located 10 kilometres north-west of central Hanoi, the 40,192-seat stadium is the second biggest in the country in terms of capacity and was built at a cost of US$53 million.

Since 2021, the stadium has attracted complaints mainly about the quality of the pitch, starting with its hosting of the Vietnam–Australia match in the third AFC qualification round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

[3] It has since come under further scrutiny after hosting Borussia Dortmund in an international friendly, of which the goalpost was broken mid-game,[4] and Southeast Asian teams in the 2022 AFF Championship.

[7] In July 2000, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải approved a project of a stadium at the heart of Vietnam's National Sports Complex in preparation for hosting the 2003 Southeast Asian Games.

Four firms, namely Hanoi International Group (HISG - China), Philipp Holzmann (Germany), Bouygues (France), and Lemna-Keystone (United States), participated in the bidding of the stadium's construction.

The process was controversial due to violations of technical and financial requirements in HISG and Holzmann's bids, corruption allegations involving a French donation, and the intransparency in the panel's decision making.

The Hanoi football club was scheduled to play at the stadium, but later backed out of their agreement, citing the embarrassment of using an 40,000+ seat venue for games that routinely draw only slightly more than 5,000.

In addition, this stadium held many domestic and international football competitions: The three runners-up from the third round groups played each other at a neutral venue on 25, 27 and 29 March 2012.

Vietnam was later chosen by the AFC Competitions Committee as the neutral venue, with games played at Hanoi's Mỹ Đình Stadium.

The cause was confirmed to be the ignition of two firework containers due to negligence in the installation of their detonation position;[20][21] this was a rehearsal for a programme commemorating the millennial anniversary of the establishment of Thăng Long (present-day Hanoi), which was scheduled to be held on October 10.

In September 2021, the Vietnamese national team hosted Australia in the third round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers; Australian media and fans at the time compared the Mỹ Đình pitch to a "cow pasture".

[32] Up until the third-place match and the final of the men's football event at the 2021 SEA Games, the turf had been damaged due to the installation of the stage for the opening ceremony.

[40] On January 4, 2023, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính commented on the condition of the stadium,[41][42] questioning the claim that it was not being exploited.